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GMB union lobbies Parliament against 'attacks' on pensionsThe GMB union last week demonstrated at the House of Commons against what it called "recurring efforts by Ofgem to undermine pensions" of energy workers. The union also lobbied against Conservative and Liberal Democrat "attacks" on pension schemes. GMB national secretary Gary Smith said: "It is time the government forced Ofgem to concentrate on energy prices rather than attacking pension provisions for those in the industry. It is time this unelected and increasingly out of touch regulator was brought to heel." A spokesman for Ofgem said: "We're not looking to reform energy workers' pensions rights, which is what the GMB is suggesting. What we are looking at is whether the actual principles of how these are dealt with in the distribution price control review are fit for purpose. Pension costs now account for over 10 per cent of the total cost of distribution, so it's important that we look at the principles of how those are dealt with." Currently, pension costs are automatically passed on to customers. "One of the ideas is that the network companies should be assessing the pension costs and we would take a view on whether those are efficient or not," he said. He added that there was plenty of opportunity for those affected to submit feedback on dealing with pension costs. Smith said: "The attack on public sector pensions, already announced by both parties, will be followed by attacks on pension schemes in the energy sector." David Cameron has said his party would scrap defined benefit public sector schemes. The GMB saw this as "indicative of his objective to reduce occupational pension provision to the lowest common denominator". Source: Utility Week © Faversham House Group Ltd 2009. News articles may be copied or forwarded
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